These days, the words "Black Lives Matter" are everywhere — and it's about time. The movement was created to help give Black people more of a voice. It reminds people that their feelings have been muted for years. Their lives are equally important as everyone else's lives, and it's important for authority figures not to pass judgment based on their skin color.
The more the message gets out there, the better chance that real change will happen. To see children wear shirts in relation to Black Lives Matter is a nice reminder that our future is promising. However, one day care director disagrees. And she's managed to make the news based on her unfortunate reaction to a young activist.
Unfortunately, there are people out there who don't stand by the Black Lives Matter message. This director went so far as to expel a 6-year-old from her day care program for wearing a shirt bearing the message.
Deval Brockman got the call from day care that her daughter, Journei, had to leave her class. The shirt in question read, "All Lives Can't Matter Until Black Lives Matter."
"I never thought twice about the shirt being a problem," Journei's mom said to Today Parents. "The director was like, 'I don't support it. I don't like it. I want to make sure you do not send her to school in the shirt again.'" At the time, Journei was frightened that she did something wrong.
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The director of His Kids Learning Center in Russellville, Arkansas, might not have realized at the time that Deval would call the state on the issue. Deval asked a state employee if Journei's shirt was in any way inappropriate. They said it wasn't. So the next day, Journei went in wearing another Black Lives Matter-themed shirt.
This one simply stated "I can't breathe," which were the last words of George Floyd. George died while in police custody and helped the Black Lives Matter movement gain more momentum. Once the day care director saw it, she called Deval — who works as a phlebotomist at a plasma center — multiple times, asking her to pick up her daughter.
When Deval got there, both the director and her husband yelled at the mom. "Her husband is having a conversation with me now where he calls me racist," Deval said. "He told me I'm teaching my child to be racist, and tells me I need to re-evaluate my parenting."
Deval was then told that Journei could never come back. "They were just like, 'We can't have her here because it's just making white kids question their lives and that's just not something I want to deal with or have that divide in my daycare,'" she said.
Journei is very upset over the fact that she can't go back. In her eyes, she still feels like she did something wrong. "My child is upset and she couldn't even really understand why she can't go back," Deval said. "All of a sudden her environment changed. She can't see the teacher she liked. She can't see her friends."
Today tried to reach out to the day care for a statement, but nobody answered the phone. However, the center did release a statement over what happened. "Due to the threat of allegations and under the advisement of the council, His Kids Learning Center will only be releasing this written statement concerning The Brockman's," it said.
"We feel a childcare environment is not a place for a parent's political views to be addressed or played out, regardless of race," the statement continued. And, that's where the problem lies. While many people do see Black Lives Matter as a political issue, it's more of a human rights issue.
It's stating that while all lives matter, we need to focus on Black lives to make sure they truly get equal treatment. Politics should have nothing to do with it. And insinuating that Journei might not hold these beliefs herself is upsetting. Activism can start at any age.
Deval also feels as if the shirts weren't meant to be a political statement. "Kids need to know that their skin color already is going to work against them to a certain degree in people's eyes," she said. "So, they need to know and be prepared and be able to learn and know that they may not have done anything but they're going to be treated very differently."
"Hopefully, someday it will change," she concluded. The whole situation is upsetting, but surely Journei will find a new day care where she can feel comfortable — and wear the shirts she wants to wear. Representation is important, especially right now.
Day care should serve as a place where all children feel welcome. It's sad to know that Journei felt as if representing something she believed in caused such chaos. It's very important for educators to know that decisions like this are hard for children to comprehend. The fact that the director made Journei feel ostracized over a shirt is tough.
Hopefully, Journei's teachers didn't treat her any differently than the other kids. And hopefully they disagreed with the direction that the center's director took. Day cares often form strong bonds with their children, so surely Journei's sudden departure would have left an impression.
Black Lives Matter shirts aren't meant to be offensive. They're meant to get an important human rights message out. Hopefully when Journei gets older, she won't have any other incidents where she's punished for speaking her mind or promoting a cause.
